Robert F. Bialas, M.D.
Clearwater Center For Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery
609 Lakeview Rd., Clearwater, FL 33756
(727) 447-4536
Liposuction
Localized deposits of fatty tissue in the face, neck, abdomen, hips, arms and legs can be removed using suction techniques through incisions. Candidates for this procedure are of normal weight with persistent fatty bulges in localized areas that have not responded to diet or exercise. These stubborn deposits of fat can be, literally, vacuumed away.
This is not an operation to treat obesity. You must have good skin tone in the area to be treated or the skin will simply droop.
Procedure:
A smooth tube is inserted through a small (less than one-inch-long) incision in the skin. The tube has a blunt tip with an opening on the side. The fat cells beneath the skin are vacuumed out. As the overlying skin collapses, bulging contours flatten. While the body does not produce any new fat cells after adolescence, the patient must still watch their weight as remaining fat cells can increase in size-- almost without limit.
Depending on the size and number of areas treated, this operation may be performed on an outpatient basis.
Recovery:
Elastic garments are worn over the treated area for two to four weeks. Recovery time is one month, with final results apparent by six months.
Common Area for Liposuction
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Robert F. Bialas, M.D.
Clearwater Center For Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery
609 Lakeview Rd., Clearwater, FL 33756
Phone: (727) 447-4536
Abdomen
As you get older, the firm abdomen of your youth, stretched over the years, loses its tone and becomes "middle-aged spread." Diet and exercise can help tighten the muscles of the abdomen and regain some of their tone.
The factor you can not control, however, is the tone of the skin, which has been repeatedly stretched out of shape. Some people are left with stubborn pockets of fat that refuse to disappear. With the help of plastic surgery, the loose, hanging skin and fat pockets can be surgically removed, leaving you with the flat, more youthful abdomen you would like.
Procedure:
Abdominoplasty, or "tummy tuck," is not a minor operation. A general anesthetic is required for the surgery, and an overnight stay in the hospital is usually necessary for proper post-operative care. Sometimes this procedure is combined with other abdominal surgery, such as a hysterectomy, thus taking care of two problems simultaneously.
Treatment consists of surgically removing the loose skin and fat between the navel and supra pubic area. The upper abdominal skin is then pulled down to the level of the "bikini line", replacing the excised skin. A new navel site is fashioned.
Recovery:
To keep tension off the suture line after surgery, the patient rests in a bed with legs slightly elevated for two days. Gradually, the hips are straightened as the skin accommodates to its new position. Full recovery time is approximately four weeks.